Among those who said the economy had improved, 60% attributed
this to Scottish Government policies, 14% to
UK Government policies
and 18% to 'some other reason'.

Among those who said the economy had weakened, 35% attributed
this to
UK Government policies,
18% attributed this to Scottish Government policies, and 37% to
'some other reason'.

General standard of living

In 2016, 36% of people said the standard of living had fallen 'a
lot' or 'a little', 38% said it had stayed the same, and 19% of
people said they had increased 'a lot' or 'a little'.

There has been a consistent decline since 2011 in the proportion
of people who say that the standard of living in Scotland has
fallen. The proportion of people who said that the standard of
living had increased in the past twelve months was the same as in
2015 (19%).

Figure 12 Whether general standards of living have
increased ('a lot' or 'a little') or fallen ('a lot' or 'a little')
in the past 12 months? (2004-2016, %)[5]

Perceived responsibility for changes

Among those who said the standard of living had improved, 41%
attributed this to Scottish Government policy, 28% to
UK Government policy and
16% to 'some other reason'.

Among those who said the standard of living had worsened, 50%
attributed this to
UK Government policy, 15%
attributed this to Scottish Government policy, and 19% to 'some
other reason'.

Variations in attitudes between subgroups: Economy &
general standard of living

Views on changes to the economy, standards of living and
standards in the health service had improved or declined varied
between a number of social groups
[19].

Views on whether Scotland's economy had weakened varied as
follows:

Educational qualifications - 62% of those with a
degree or equivalent said the economy had weakened compared to
47% of those with no formal qualifications.

Living comfortably - 62% of those who were
struggling on their present income said the economy had weakened
compared to 56% of those who were living comfortably on their
present income.

Economic activity - 61% of those who were
retired said the economy had weakened compared to 53% of those in
work.

Political activities - 59% of those who had
engaged in at least one political activity in the last few years
as a means of registering what they personally thought about an
issue said the economy had weakened compared to 47% of those who
had not engaged in any political activities.

National identity -Just under two-thirds (65%)
of those who identified as equally Scottish and British thought
the economy had weakened compared to a half (50%) of those who
identified as more Scottish than British.

Views on whether living standards in Scotland had fallen varied
as follows:

Living comfortably - 54% of those who were
struggling to live off their current income thought living
standards had fallen compared to just under a third (32%) of
those who are living comfortably off their current income.

Political spectrum - 42% of those on the left of
the political spectrum said living standards had fallen, compared
to 23% of those on right.

Political activities - 40% of those who had
engaged in at least one political activity in the last few years
as a means of registering what they personally thought about an
issue thought living standards had fallen compared to 28% of
those who had engaged in none.

Sex - 40% of women thought living standards had
fallen compared to 32% of men.

National Health Service (
NHS)

People were asked two key questions on the National Health
Service in Scotland:

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the way the
National Health Service runs nowadays?

Has the standard of the health service in Scotland increased
or fallen in the last 12 months?

Satisfaction with the
NHS

In 2016, 60% of people reported that they were 'satisfied' or
'very satisfied' with the way the
NHS runs
nowadays. This figure has remained stable the last three times this
question has been asked, varying between 60 and 62% since 2013.
Satisfaction with the way the
NHS runs
nowadays had risen steadily since 2005 when more people were
dissatisfied than satisfied with the way the
NHS was run.

Figure 13 Satisfaction with the way the health service runs
nowadays (1999-2016 , %)[5]

Whether the standard of the health service in Scotland has
increased or fallen

Continuing a general trend since 2010, more people said the
standard of the health service in Scotland had fallen 'a little' or
'a lot' (37%) than increased 'a little' or 'a lot' (13%). 40% of
people said standards had stayed the same.

Figure 14 Whether standards in the health service have
increased or fallen (1999-2016 , %)[5]

Perceived responsibility for changes

Among those who said standards in the
NHS had
improved, 54% attributed this to Scottish Government policy, 16% to
UK Government policy and
24% to 'some other reason'.

Among those who said the standards in the
NHS had fallen,
40% attributed this to
UK Government policy, 25%
attributed it to Scottish Government policy, and 18% to 'some other
reason'.

Variations in attitudes between subgroups:
NHS

Views on satisfaction with and changes to standards in the
health service had improved or declined varied between a number of
social groups
[20].

Satisfaction with the way the health service runs nowadays
varied as follows:

Living comfortably - 65% of those who were
living comfortably on their present income were satisfied
compared with 52% of those struggling to live on their present
income.

Self-reported health - 64% of those with good
health were satisfied compared with 41% of those with poor
health.

Sex - 62% of men were satisfied with the
NHS compared
to 59% of women.

Views on whether the standards in the health service have fallen
varied by:

Self-reported health - 54% of those with poor
health said standards had fallen compared to a third (33%) of
those with good health

Age - 47% of those aged 65 and over said
standards had fallen compared to 24% of 16-24 year olds.

Educational qualifications - 47% of those with
no formal qualifications said standards had fallen compared to
third (33%) of those with a degree or equivalent

Living comfortably - 44% of those struggling to
live on their current income said standards had fallen compared
to 38% of those living comfortably on their current income.

Sex - 41% of women said standards had fallen
compared to 32% of men.

Children in the household - 40% of those with no
children in the house said standards had fallen compared to 30%
of those with children in the house.